LOOKING BACK

It was the social event of the year, maybe the decade, in Rockdale as Dr. T. S. Barkley married Miss Alice Graves in the Rockdale Methodist Church.

The Matinee Musical club had a three-in-one session, a piano concert, Halloween party and bridal shower for Alice Graves.

Corn entered in the Texas State Fair in Dallas by Rockdale farmer George Doss won the coveted purple ribbon for best corn grower in the state. Doss sold the prize-winning corn for 50 cents an ear ($40 a bushel.)

Thanksgiving was obviously on the way. Scarbrough & Hicks and the Farmers Union Warehouse ran large ads in The Reporter: “We will buy your turkeys.”

FORTY YEARS AGO....

As part of a national effort to conserve power during the 1973 “energy shortage,” the Rockdale Chamber of Commerce announced there would be no Christmas lighting downtown.

The fall pecan crop in Milam County was such a flop that the annual pecan show in Cameron was canceled by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.

Rev. Bob Koch of St. John’s United Methodist Church was to bring the sermon for Rockdale’s annual Union Thanksgiving Service at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.

In a bizarre “meaningless” football game with a non-zone opponent the week between a zone-clinching win and a district playoff bout, Gatesville defeated Rockdale 35-6.

TWENTY YEARS AGO....

The Rockdale City Council was set to gauge public opinion on a proposed 124-bed juvenile “boot camp” envisioned for a site south of Rockdale.

Michael Goza was named to replace Jack Drake, who was retiring from Alcoa after more than 40 years with the company, the final 11 as Texas-area manager.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced it would install crossarms and lights at Rockdale’s treacherous Travis Street railroad intersection.

Coach Kris Waugh’s Lady Tiger volleyball team was headed into the post-season with a 25-1 record and a 19-game winning streak.

TEN YEARS AGO....

City council members were discussing whether to raise Rockdale’s hotel-motel tax which was at six percent.

Police were warning of a phone scam after someone posing as a non-existent “banking security officer” phoned a local resident and tried to extract banking account numbers.

It was an early flu season as 50 RHS students were absent on one day, representing almost 10 percent of the campus population.

A crowd of almost 300 attended the second annual health fair at Richards Memorial Hospital which featured free health screenings.